Corrective insole for shoes



March 1, 1938- G. E. MUSEBECK 2,109,706

CORRECTIVE INSOLE FOR SHOES Filed De'c. 14, 1935 INVENTOR. G50/wf' E.Masf'fc/f,

ATTORNEYS,

Patented Mar. 1, 1938 UNTZED STATES 'PATENT orrics :CORREC-TIVE INSQLE.FR .SHOES George E. Musebeck, Danville, Ill.

8 Claims.

This invention relates .to :a corrective insole -for shoes.

The invention relates primarily to an 'insole having a supportingextension :on its inner edge vbut certain features are applicable V.asWell to in- .soles without such extensions. .the prior art, it has beencommon practice itoform the extension integrally with the insole proper..Such practice requires the vrformation of the stitching channel by'hand since channell-ing machines cannot he used. It valso introduces .apoint of weakness ,at the stitching channel .along the hase of theextension at the point where the .construction should vbe the stiffest.In my prior Patent No. 1,916,198, issued July 4, 13933, I have .shown aninsole having an .extension integral With the insole proper :and havinga Wedge apiece placed beneath :the inner side `oi :the insole proper,the channelling being formed in the AWedge piece. This constructionmakes it possible to' use a channelling machine ibut introduces annndesirable bulge in the ,side of the Ashoe lasting. It does not permitthe .use of :a standard for-m of insolewhich can `be purchased in theopen market since extension insoles must be made to order.

'In the :present construction, the extension is formed on Va Wedge pieceinset in `the insole proper, the insole preferably being :split toaccommodate the wedge. The -Wedge piece itself is formed to give acorrective pressure falen-g the inn-er side oi the foot, which aids theextension in correcting inrolling or pronation of the foot. Preferably,the Wedge piece extends Well hack u. into the heel and the extensionAhas its greatest width adjacent the breast of :the heel, .thus applyingthe maximum v,corrective pressure :at the forward inner corner of theheel where interference with the nerves and blood supply is a minimum.In one form of the invention, theextension is carried completely throughthe shank Vpor tion of the insole to give lcorrective pressure loverthat part of the foot When pressure :at the heel is not sufcient tocorrect the inrolling. .Tn 10ertain cases also, the Wedge portion iscarried for-- Ward of the shank to provide an additional support for themetatarsal arch of the foot.

In other cases Where an extension is not necessa-ry;v he wedge pieceitself is inset in the insole and is carried back to the heel forstraightening the loot, and forwardly of the shank portion to givemetatarsal arch support.

The insole formed according to this invention has the advantages thatthe insole prop-er is of a standard block shape which may be purchasedApplication December 14, 1935, ASerial No. :54,381

(Cl. Bti-71) von .the open market and the ychannelling :out Iand weltAreceiving k.recess .are standard in `every Way Aand -can loe-cut bymachinery. At the same time, the extension being in :a-.separate pieceLoan lbe .made yasweak or .as strong .as desired since its thicknessdoes not .depend upon the thickness ci :the insoleproper. The thicknessof the extension is .preferably less than that of the insole proper .andtherefore ,can .be turned up Within the upper Without producing anunsightly bulge in the side of theshoe.

The full natu-re .of the'invention be understood lfrom the .accompanying:drawing andthe followingid-escription and claims:

Fig. l is :a bottom view `of vone form of an insole for .the lett foothaving .the extension through both the heel and shank portions. Fig. .2is a perspective vievv of :a similar insole for the right v:tootshewingthe manner of assembling the outsole proper .and the Wedge piece.Fig.. V3 :is a sectional view taken `substantially on :the line 3 3 ofFig. 2, the insole being Acompletely assembled. Fig. 4 is a similar viewtaken on the line l of Fig. ,2. Fig. 5 is fa View similar .to Fig. 1showing .an insole for the left foot :having the heel type z ofextension only. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the .assemblyof an insole Without the extension.

iin formation of the insole in the preferred Yforms hereinillustratedzapiece .of relatively thick leather et@ has/ing the outline of :a normalinsole without the arch support extension is first prepared and issupplied with the usual .st-itching chaimels ll and welt-receivingrecess l5. For `,this purpose a standard outline of insole may be usedand the channelling may be 4done `by the usual channelling machinery.The insole lil is then split as .shown in Fig, .2 to form an upperlamination l2 .and a lower lamination I3. The split is carried throughthe heel and shank portion `of the insole and, in the yease 4of thoseillustrated, Ais' .carried forward of the shank lapproximately to theregion -oi the ball of the foot. The portion of the insole Abeneath theforward part .of the -ioiot remains in Aone piece. A wedge piece ,t isthen .cemented or -otherwiseattached to the lower lamination i3 and theulr lamination -I2 is cemented or Aotherwise secured to the lWedge pieceand Ito the Vlower lamination. Preferably, the upper lamination isconsiderably thinner than. the low-er, thus leaving sufficient materialfor the channelling cuts ll and the Weltreceiving recess I5 in the lowerlamination. Instead of a single piece split through a part of its areathe insole proper may be made from Cil two thinner pieces of the sameoutline forming the upper and lower laminations and cemented orotherwise secured together with the wedge piece between.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1

and 2, the wedge piece I4 is provided with an extension IB having itsgreatest width at the line li-d, which is in the region of the breast ofthe heel of the shoe. The extension is carried forward through the shankportion of the shoe to provide further support in that region. The Wedgepiece extends well back into the heel, as shown at Il, to provide thenecessary corrective pressure in the zone of the heel and also extendsforward at I8 beneath the metatarsal arch of the foot. At this point thewedge piece is well to the center of the insole and since it is skivedabout all of its edges, it provides suitable metatarsal arch support asshown particularly in Fig. 3. The fact that the greatest width of theextension is at the breast of the heel provides the maximum correctivepressure at the forward inner part of the heel. At this point there areno large blood vessels or nerves beneath the bones of the foot so thatpressure may be applied there without danger of interference with bloodand nerve supply. The auxiliary support b-y means of the extension atthe shank portion is not always necessary and in any case is so designedas to present much less pressure than that of the wider portion at thebreast of the heel. Y The insole shown in Fig. 5 is` similar to that ofFig. 1 except that the extension I6a is not carried forward through theshank. This form is preferable where auxiliary corrective support of theinstep in addition to that at the breast of the heel is not necessary.

Fig. 6 illustrates an insole of this type in which no extension is used,the corrective support being given entirely by the wedge piece itselfwhich is inset between the upper and lower laminations in the samemanner as previously described.

While the invention has been described as applied to an insole for aGoodyear welt shoe, it is equally applicable to many other types of shoeconstruction.

The invention claimed is:

l. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper ofrelatively thick material having the outline of a normal insole withouta supporting extension, the shank and heel portion thereof being splitinto upper and lower laminations, and a corrective wedge piece insetbetween said laminations along the inner side and having an extensionbeyond the outline of the insole proper, said extension having itsgreatest width adjacent the breast of the heel and having a portion ofless width extending along the shank portion of the insole and mergingwith the outline of the insole.

2. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper ofrelatively thick material having the outline oi a normal insole withouta supporting extension, the shank and heel portion thereof being splitinto upper and lower laminations, and a corrective wedge piece insetbetween said laminations along the inner side and having an extensionbeyond the outline of the insole proper, said extension having itsgreatest width adjacent the breast of the heel and having a portion ofgradually diminishing width extending along the shank portion of theinsole.

3. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper ofrelatively thick material having the outline of a normal insole withouta supporting extension, and a corrective wedge piece inset therein alongthe inner side, said wedge piece having an extension beyond the outlineof the insole proper, and said wedge piece extending forwardly of theshank substantially to the region of the ball of the foot and saidforward extension being spaced from both edges of the insole proper toform a metatarsal arch support.

4. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper ofrelatively thick material having the outline of a normal insole withouta supporting extension, and a corrective wedge piece inset therein, saidwedge piece extending along the inner edge lof the shank and heelportion and extending forwardly of the shank substantially to the regionof the ball of the foot and said forward extension being spaced fromboth edges of the insole proper to provide a metatarsal arch support.

5. A corrective insole for shoes comprising a piece of relatively thickmaterial having the outline of an insole, and a corrective wedge pieceinset therein, said wedge piece extending along the inner edge of theshank and heel portion and extending forwardly of the shanksubstantially to the region of the ball of the foot and said forwardextension being spaced from both edges of the insole proper to provide ametatarsal arch support.

6. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper having theoutline of a normal insole without a supporting extension andbeingformed of an upper and a lower lamination, and a corrective wedge pieceinset between saidlaminations along the inner side and having anextension beyond the outline of the insole proper, said extension havingits greatest width adjacent the breast of the heel and having a portionof less width extending along the shank portion of the insole andmerging with the outline of the insole.

7. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper having theoutline of a normal insole without a supporting extension and beingformed of an upper and a lower lamination, and a corrective wedge pieceinset between said laminations along the inner side and having anextension beyond the outline oi the insole proper, said extension havingits greatest width' adjacent the breast of the heel and having a portionof gradually diminishing width extending along the Shank portion of theinsole.

8. A corrective insole for shoes comprising an insole proper having theoutline of a normal insole 'without a supporting extension and beingformed of an upper and a lower lamination, and a corrective wedge pieceinset between said laminations along the inner side and having anextension beyond the outline of the insole proper, said wedge pieceextending forwardly of the shank substantially to the region of the ballof 'the foot and said forward extension being spaced from both edges ofthe insole proper to form a metatarsal arch support.

GEORGE E. MUSEBECK.

